Brand Fuzziness
Vague enterprises, blurred statements and frizzy positioning. I was walking across a vast concrete and asphalt lot, hundreds of feet between me and the monoliths of retail across the expansively empty and sweltering plains, two stood there: Sears and JCPenney. In the...
Dwayne Johnson as Doc Savage
The Design of the Doc Savage Logo In GIRVIN's history as designers for theatrical marketing and advertising, we’ve got legacy, a heritage of literally hundreds of motion pictures — starting with kickoff logo studies for Francis Ford Coppola’s "Apocalypse Now,” to...
The Etymology of Design
The Thinking of Design, an Interior Journey into the Work and the Word: Sign the Signal, Scribe the Insignia, Script the Sigil and Designate the Signature. Drawing, scratching, scribbling, scarring and scripting - there are alignments in the movement and momentum of...
The Three R’s of Branding: Relevance, Resonance and Relationships
And the Layering of Marketing Focus in SINGULARITY, ATTENTIONALITY, INTENTIONALITY | THEIR STRATEGIES IN BRAND DEVELOPMENT Resonance, Relevance, Relationships — the three indices of connection and community Brands have to matter to be unforgettable. Given the flooding...
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
Pay up. What, pay? Brand development and conjecture. The strategy of idealism and the tactics of reality in brand building. In my history as a strategist and designer, there have been dozens of times that I’ve been asked to build brands and invest in their outcome....
Quick Shot | Energy Spike Drinks
Exploring the branding of hyper-caffeinated power drinks; what image is presented — what story found? And yes, why do I drink them? Montages by R.Bird In the last 20 years, I’ve had plenty of experience exploring drinking in Asia.From Tokyo to Seoul, from Bangkok to...
DESIGNING NOMENCLATURE
The Naming of Things THE MYSTICAL ROOTS OF THE DESIGNING AND VOICING OF NAMES. When you think about it, telling someone your name is either comfortable or proves an uneasiness. And sometimes, you might ask for the name of a person, and there is a pregnant moment of...
The Shining | Moments of Inspiration, Epiphany and Spectacle
SHELF EPIPHANY, RETAIL DESIGN, BRAND STORYTELLING AND SHINING SURPRISES ––––––––––––– I was talking to a client about the concept of the shine. When a product, the shelf on which it resides, the store in which it lives — shines — what is that like, that light? Walking...
Force Fullness
THE SENSE OF PUSH. AND PULL. AND PLAY. Sometimes, in the strength of the passionate moment, the voice of the impassioned telling — accentuating the potent momentum — there’s a need for force. FORCE ACTIVATES. And force can captivate. Enchantment: As the energy passes...
ZenMind
BRAND KICKSTART: ZEN MIND, BEGINNER’S MIND GIRVIN office lobby working session | Seattle THE IMPETUS OF SPIRITUAL BRANDING — EXPLORING THE CONCEPT OF ZEN IN THE CONSTRUCT OF BRANDING In working with teams, on the implications of their brand, the process is inevitably...